Golf Camp: The factsStephen Ryan on the virtues of a 'serious golf camp', where the sport is put before the fun and games

It was to be a week of serious golf. A golf camp. Not a golf holiday. No soaring, 2 o'clock in-the-morning, spirit-fuelled renditions of The Fields of Athenry followed by a shaky, pale arrival at the course the following morning.

No shankers we. Athletes to the core. Hand-picked amateurs determined to work hard at our game, play the courses with icy precision in the mode of professionals and generally approach the week's golf as a learning experience that would improve not just our technical abilities but also our whole mental approach to the game.

The format was simple. One of three professionals would each take seven amateurs, making up a total 24 players or six fourballs. We would travel to the Atlantic coast of Spain and hole up in Golf Costa Ballena, a terrific training facility frequently used by leading European amateur teams.

Even the destination shouted serious golf. None of the heady gaudiness of Marbella and the temptations of Puerto Banus. Our nearest source of diversion would be the town of Rota, famous for its very long landing strip that can accommodate the Space Shuttle. After that, Juan's Famous Steak House, which had run out of steaks the evening we arrived.

The golfers were a mixed bunch comprising of a group from Dublin, led by Royal Dublin teaching pro, Neil Manchip; a group from Carlow led by professional Ian Kerr and a group from Galway led by the Irish Amateur Ladies coach, David Kearney.

There was one quality amateur amongst us, a two handicapper who had a prodigious range of shots, a keen interest in practicing yoga and a disconcerting habit of drinking tea when all about him were, well, flapping.

The rest of us ranged from high single handicappers to out and out beginners and, curiously enough, a columnist from the Sunday Independent.

All of us were dogged on one issue. We all wanted to improve and we all wanted to play better, more informed and more competitive golf.

We wanted to return from the camp in better condition and in a better frame of mind to tackle the forthcoming season. And if that required pushing ourselves harder and further both physically and mentally than we had hitherto done, well so be it.

Okay, so the entire group wasn't to be found resistance running through the waves of Ballena's stunning five-mile beach at 7.30 each morning. But we were out on the practice range at a reasonable hour hitting golf balls and developing technique around the greens and learning a variety of approaches to playing out of the sand and increasing our up-and-down statistics by quite a margin.

The full-time presence of the three pros was hugely beneficial, either in the group sessions or the one-to-ones that you could pretty much avail of at any time.

The golf complex, if it were needed, provided additional motivation. The facility at Golf Costa Ballena was terrific. Decent balls and a huge grass driving area stretching down to the sea with plenty of accurate distance markers made the business of practising a joy.

Beside the driving range was an outstanding bunkered, pitching green and a substantial putting green leading up to the clubhouse tended, to our amazement, by some of the most disagreeable waiting staff we had ever come across.

The course was perfect for this kind of training week. There was little or no rough and the chances of losing balls were slim unless you were extremely bad or stupid. But it was a clever course that required intelligent plotting and management. Precisely the sort of thing that our respective pros kept drumming into our amateur brains. Think, decide your shot, develop your pre-shot routine and then trust your swing.

It became something of a mantra, and the most significant legacy of the "mental game" seminar given by Neil Manchip. One that attempted to put is in touch with the way in which professional golfers go about their business on the course proper and on the practice ground.

On the practice ground don't just hit ball after ball into the distance.

Develop a routine. Visualise a shot as you would on the golf course. Choose your target from behind the ball, take a practice swing, approach the ball from behind and then align your club. Let your body slot into its natural stance and then trust your swing to send the ball to the target that you've already visualised.

Then take that routine and repeat it again and again on the golf course. Ignore the poor shots or the nothing shots and get on with it, concentrating all the time on repeating your practice swing.

We became some of the most beautiful practice swingers ever seen in southern Spain. High, elegant, rhythmic and fluid practice swings followed by devastatingly sharp jabs of blurred movement and howls of anguish.

Classic amateur stuff at the beginning of the week leading to far more smiles as the week progressed to its climax at the achingly beautiful Montecastillo course designed by Jack Nicklaus and home to the Volvo PGA which Padraig Harrington won last year.

(Yes, we did line up his monster, winning putt at the 18th shortly after we suffered a savage burst of vertigo on the 18th tee with its 300-foot drop to the fairway).

It was at Montecastillo that the penny dropped for many of us and the work on the practice range and the chats with the professionals finally began to add up and make sense.

Guys (there were no girls) suddenly found themselves freely admitting to being in a playing mind-set that they were previously unfamiliar with. Thinking, methodical, serious golf which involved careful plotting around some jaw-dropping holes.

Golfers who would have felt fortunate to get around this kind of championship track in the low-30 points, were shooting 37s and 36s and 34s, all testament to a new and more disciplined approach to the game, smarter planning and a better understanding of how to "score on" rather than "play at" a course.

The three professionals are planning a return trip to the same venue on October 10th. Contact David Kearney at 091 526 737 for details.

Cost: €1,500 for flights, accommodation, golf and practice balls.

The Hotel: Seven nights half-board at the four-star Ran Hotel Colón, Coast Ballena; www.coloncostaballena.com. Functional, modern hotel with very pleasant staff. Good breakfast, poor dinner. Close to beach (three minutes) with shuttle service (five minutes) to golf course. Swimming pool, tennis court, gym, sauna etc. The best local restaurant is Paco's sea food restaurant, Chipiona. Super five course meal with wine approx €40.

The Courses: Costa Ballena. Par 72, 6,187 metres; €48 per round. Buggy: €30. Caddy car €3. Excellent par-three course.

Montecastillo: Par 72, 6,900 metres. Buggy essential. Huge walks from tee to green and massive descents and climbs at some holes. Superb final four holes. Five-star hotel on course designed by Jack Nicklaus set in 395 acres. Awesome. Good practice facilities. Nearest airport: Jerez (20 minutes away). Hotel and course slightly cut off from local activity.

Real Club de Golf, Seville: Par 72, 6,339 metres. €42 per round weekdays, €90 at weekends. Good 18-hole parkland course designed by Jose Maria Olazabal. A little scruffy in places, particularly on tees. Ball sits up wonderfully well on fairways. Par-three third the signature hole, surrounded by water. Some very fine holes on the back nine with water coming into play regularly.

Getting there: We flew Dublin-Heathrow-Seville with coach transfer (1hr 30min) to Costa Ballena. Killester Travel charter direct flights ex-Dublin to Jerez from early March to mid May and from early September to late October. Cost approx €230, flight only.